Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) today announced the appointment of Gavin Halliday as Managing Director of Hala Group, its destination management and global loyalty unit.

At Hala, Mr. Halliday will lead EAG’s new global loyalty company
which brings together Etihad Guest with the loyalty programmes of other EAG
partner airlines. He will also have responsibility for EAG’s destination and
conference management organisations, which are critical elements of the
company’s plans to grow leisure and business travel to Abu Dhabi and the
UAE.

Mr. Halliday brings to his new role more than 30 years of experience at British Airways and other IAG
business units. For the last three years, he has been Chief Executive
Officer of Avios, IAG’s global loyalty programme. Previously, he held senior
commercial positions at IAG, Iberia, British Midland and British Airways.

H.E. Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Board of
the Etihad Aviation Group, said: “Hala is a critical element of Etihad’s
strategy to leverage the combined reach and value of our airline partners. It
also is an important platform for realising the full potential of Abu Dhabi and
the UAE as a preferred destination for business and leisure travel. Gavin is an
innovator and leader in the industry – we are excited to have him join EAG’s
leadership team.

“We are particularly excited at the experience that Gavin will
bring to our global loyalty marketing programme, for which we have big plans.”

Gavin Halliday added: “This is an incredible opportunity. Etihad
Airways has been one of the fastest-growing airlines of the last decade and Hala is an engine for further expansion. I look
forward to working closely with local travel companies and organisations to
bring more business and vacation visitors to Abu Dhabi and the UAE.”

Hala Group was established in 2016 to bring more focus to EAG’s portfolio of
loyalty, travel and hospitality businesses. It includes Global Loyalty
Company, Etihad Holidays, Hala Abu Dhabi, Hala Travel Management
and the Amadeus Joint Venture.

Mr. Halliday will start in his new role in early September 2017.

He will replace Darren Peisley, who has been Acting Managing Director of Hala Group. H.E. Al Mazrouei thanked Mr. Peisley for his contribution, saying: “Darren has played
a strong interim role at Hala, having founded and
grown the Global Loyalty business into the profitable platform it is today with
more than 20 million members, as well as previously
leading executive portfolios in the commercial and business transformation
areas over his seven years at Etihad Airways. We thank him for his
contribution and wish him luck in his future ventures, as he returns to
Australia.”